Some proposals that have been mooted recently show hope for immigration reform in the United States of America.
Members of the Republican party have suggested a series of incremental measures that is poised to address the issues surrounding the challenging hotbed of immigration and immigration reform in the country. The lawmakers in the GOP have proposed a series of measures that is hoped can help the delicate correlation between handling the demands of the need for managing border security and at the same time dealing with the need for labor from across the shores.
There has been almost no progress in the area of immigration lawmaking and so the recent developments have been seen to be addressing the issue. Earlier the Senate which was controlled by the Democrat-led party had passed a reform bill in the year 2013, which was never allowed to come up for a vote in the GOP-led House. This status quo led the President of the United States to issue orders falling under his executive powers, angering the Republican Party in the process.
Many studies are pointing to the fact that instead of snatching away employment and jobs from the American population immigrant communities spur growth and development in the country. This is a point that most immigrant advocates would use to sell the immigration platform to a broader population base.
Arizona’s appeal on Monday over a law that would deny bail to immigrants here illegally, especially those who were arrested for a felony or crime, has been rejected by the Supreme Court recently.
The state’s voters had adopted the measure in the year 2006, and the Court said that people who had made an entry into the United States illegally and who were arrested for serious felonies would not be released on bail.
The law was however struck down last year by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals as it stated that all people fell under the Constitution’s protection for liberty in the United States, and that people who were under arrest had a right to an individual hearing – on whether they should be released before a trial.
But though the case was considered for many weeks it was finally stated by the Court that the appeal would not be heard.
The court’s action was praised by the American Civil Liberties Union. The Union had fought the Proposition 100. According to a director of an Immigrants’ Rights Project laws that were driven by the spread of fear were bad policy and violated everyone’s civil rights. According the Director the law had been in effect for about 7 years and had an impact on thousands of people.
An applicant who is on a green card journey for citizenship is required to appear for the Immigration Medical Exam, which is an important part of the entire procedure and should not be neglected. Any adjustment of status too requires the applicant to take the exam; the exam is conducted by a Civil Surgeon approved by USCIS, the officiating body for immigration in the United States of America. The USCIS Medical exam doctor or the Civil Surgeon is a licensed, experienced professional who is specially trained by USCIS to conduct the Immigration Medical Examination.
The results of the medical have to be reported in the I-693 form and are to be handed over to the applicant in a sealed envelope.
WHAT DOES THE IMMIGRATION MEDICAL EXAMINATION INCLUDE?
The USCIS Medical exam doctor conducts the entire examination which is made up of :
- Physical Examination
- Tuberculin (Skin) Test
- Serologic (Blood) Test
- Vaccinations
Though USCIS does not charge a fee for the submittal of I-693 the applicant is required to pay all doctor fees or USCIS Medical Exam Doctor fees and any laboratory fees involved during the examination. Insurance companies too will not pay these fees. The charges vary from area to area and usually cost some several hundred dollars.
After the Immigration Medical Examination is done, the applicant is required to sign the I-693 form in the presence of the USCIS Civil Surgeon. The same will be handed over to the applicant in a sealed envelope.
Move over Mexico, China and India have taken over.
China sent around 147,000 immigrants to the country in 2013 while Mexico sent only 125,000. These numbers are according to a Census Bureau study by various researchers. India too dispatched around 129,000 immigrants, beating Mexico to the game.
The study was conducted by the Census Bureau, with researchers analyzing annual immigration data from the years 2000 to 2013 of the American Community Survey, an annual survey which asks where respondents lived the year before. An immigrant was said to be so if he or she was a foreign-born who stated that they lived previously abroad.
Other top countries sending their people to America were too from Asia, including South Korea, Philippines and Japan. This too has been observed in the year 2013.
Since over a decade immigration to the United States has been steadily on the rise, from countries like India and China. Also, immigration has been declining from Mexico. This could be due to the fact that the Mexican economy has been improving and there are lower Mexican birth rates. Also, the Great Recession has also been one of the causes for a decline in the illegal immigration rates from Mexico.
Although Hispanics still form a huge percentage of the immigrant population in the United States it has now been seen that they are now native – born and not foreign – born.
The latest “Asian” wave of immigration promises to be as “dramatic” as the previous ones.
